If this were just a story about a simple guy from Alabama who’s done good for himself — like, about a hundred mil good so far, with no end in sight — five lines would suffice in summing up a true-life fairy tale.

Philip Rivers is married to his middle school sweetheart.

Tuckered out from his day job and playing with the kids, this daddy of five (with a sixth on the way) nods off watching football a couple nights a week.

The good ol’ boy drives a big ol’ Ford F250. His wife drives a minivan.

The end.

And, certainly, the above facts are not impertinent to the story being told here.

But this account is more specifically about the simple man and how he is the dynamic leader of a football team trying to break out of a “most-talented” tag that has become practically derogatory and establish a get-it-done identity.

He’s still seen in some corners of the football-watching world as cocky and even as a poor sport. It’s a reputation built on his demonstrative actions and practically nonstop talking on the field.

Those who see him, work next to him, talk with him, hang out with him in a locker room he never seems to want to leave see him differently.

“He’s an offensive lineman playing quarterback,” center Scott Mruczkowski said. “He’s as competitive as we are. … Every play he’s super energetic, super ready to go.

“He has the most passion I’ve seen anybody have about the game. It’s incredible.”

And here’s what former Indianapolis Colts and new Chargers safety Bob Sanders said in August after a week in Rivers’ locker room:

“He’s awesome. He’s so cool and down to earth. He doesn’t put himself above anyone else. That’s what really surprised me — especially a quarterback of his caliber — that he wouldn’t put himself above anyone else.”

Rivers led the NFL with 4,710 passing yards in 2010, which doesn’t even begin to explain how good he was or how important he was to the Chargers coming within a game of their fifth straight playoff appearance despite an unprecedented run of injuries and an unfathomable number of mistakes.

Rivers completed almost 20 percent of those yards to rookies, rejects and Randy McMichael. (No offense to McMichael, but the incomparable Antonio Gates, Rivers’ favorite target four years running, was unavailable and/or hobbled much of the season.)

Rivers made them believe.

“He made me understand,” said Seyi Ajirotutu, a rookie in 2010 who was never expected to be on the team yet ended up catching two touchdown passes in one game and 13 passes altogether. “He makes you better. He knows everything. Even with (current rookie) Vincent Brown right now, he’s just like you got this play, we got this, got this, got this, and he’s just doing it for everybody. He just goes out there and runs the offense. He just runs everything. It’s crazy — crazy how he does it. I’m trying to worry about ‘I got this route here, got to do this,’ but he knows all 10 things that people are doing.”